Why you should go to Honolulu

By Dr. Nabil Hassan El-GhorouryAssociate Executive Director, APAGS

Print version: page 13

Aloha, APAGS members! This year, APA's Annual Convention is in Honolulu, a venue that might be difficult for students to attend. Recognizing that, we have put together several strategies to make it easier for you to get there.

Through APAGS, students can submit a poster or organize a symposium without a faculty sponsor — two routes that can lead to waived fees or travel grants. We also will feature more than 30 hours of programming on topics such as:

Mentoring

Graduate students, as well as future graduate students, can participate in our "Advice from Emerging Professionals" session, which will include small group discussions on how to navigate graduate school challenges including obtaining funding, managing relationships with advisors and finding a postdoc. Ethnic-minority graduate students should check out our session on "Effective Recruitment and Retention of Underrepresented and Ethnic Minorities in Psychology" and "Women of Color in Academic and Clinical Settings," which will offer insights on the specific challenges that people of color can face in graduate school and as early career psychologists.

Research

Learn how to write a successful grant in "Giving Yourself an Edge: Frank Advice on Funding for Graduate Students." In addition, "Research on a Dime" will focus on conducting research with limited budgets — a particularly helpful skill for students in small programs. The APAGS Science Committee is sponsoring the session "Publish or Perish! What Grad Students Need to Know about Publication and Peer Review" to help students learn how to navigate paper submissions and revisions.

Internship

APAGS will host a four-hour internship workshop offering invaluable advice on the internship application process, such as how to select sites to apply to, write your personal statements, interview and rank your picks. In addition, we will host a "meet and greet" where students can speak directly with internship training directors and faculty members to learn more about their programs and to ask what they look for in applicants.

APAGS's 25th anniversary

APAGS founders Scott Mesh, PhD, and David Pilon, PhD, will talk about the forces that coalesced to create APA's first graduate student organization at the 1988 APA Convention, and current leaders will reflect on our many successes and the challenges on the horizon. You also won't want to miss our silver anniversary beach party on Wednesday, July 31, at the Hotel Modern Honolulu.

Subsidize your trip

As you know, traveling to Hawai‘i is expensive. Here are some tips to for easing your expenses:

Registration

If you are a first author on a conference presentation and list yourself as an APAGS member on your submission, APA will waive your registration fee. Be on the lookout for this form from the Convention Office around March; your registration won't be waived if you try to register onsite. Volunteers for continuing education and the Disability Issues Office can also request waived registration fees — visit their webpages for more information.

Travel grants

First authors on paper presentations can also apply for the APA Student Travel Award which has an April 1 deadline. Students who are not presenting, particularly first-time attendees, should consider applying for the APAGS Convention Travel Award, which has an April 2 deadline. Be sure to check with your department or APA division for additional travel funding opportunities.

Lodging

While hotel rooms in Waikiki are expensive, more budget-friendly options abound. An easy one is to find roommates to share the cost of a hotel room. Or consider reserving a spot in a hostel — Hostels.com currently lists seven options relatively near Waikiki, with beds as inexpensive as $25 a night and private rooms as low as $35. Another possibility for the adventurous is Couchsurfing or Airbnb, which list private residences you can stay in for free or a small fee, respectively. I hope I've convinced you to take a trip to the Aloha State this summer. After all, it's not often that you can you get a tan while making the professional connections you'll need to advance your career and spark your creativity. Mahalo!